Discussion

Vegas w/ a 2 yr old kid... need help eating out.

I'm taking my entire family of 7 to Vegas later this month for 4 days to celebrate my mom's 70th birthday (she's never been and always wanted to catch some shows). Unfortunately I have to bring along my 2 year old son as well. Normally he's pretty calm, so long as I prop up the portable DVD player for him, strap him down to his booster seat and feed him some kind of carbs. (this is the same kid that 6 months ago we took to Casa Mono and Bar Americain in NYC for meals).

Aside from some buffets that I've planned to try, I've also narrowed down a few restaurants as well. Can anyone comment on how appropriate it would be to bring along a relatively calm 2 year old?

1) Lotus of Siam

2) Rosemary's

3) Mon Ami Gabi or Bouchon

5) Ichiza or Shuseki

I've taken B&B off the list, even though my wife and I both love Babbo in NYC. How about Enoteca San Marco? I can't find a decent Italian place that serves good quality authentic dishes.

If there's any other suggestions, that would be great too. We'd prefer not to have Chinese/Indian/Vietnames/south american, since we get these a lot from where we live now.

BTW, we're staying at the Signature suites @ MGM and will be renting a mini van, so we can go anywhere.

Enoteca is a very casual version of B&B. Of the restaurants you've listed I think it would work best. Half the tables are in the "outdoor" plaza, offering a lot of entertainment for a toddler. Also, if he's in a mood he'll be less of a distraction to the other diners.

I personally would not take a 2 year old to Rosemary's, Mon Ami Gabi or Bouchon at night. Lunch perhaps to Mon Ami and Bouchon. Lotus you are fine and I cant talk to Ichiza of Shuseki. Enoteca is casual enough as long as they sit you on the "patio" area-- but I have only seen them sit one party inside and it seemed like a planned event.

I was reading another post saying that Bouchon is simliar to Balthazar in NYC, and my son did well there for a lunch (although the place was really noisy). I'm not worried much about entertaining/feeding my son, but I just don't want to ruin the meal for other surronding diners when the occasional times he'll make funny comments on his truck movies etc.

BTW, when you guys say "oudoor plaza/patio" for Enoteca, is it truly outdoors? I'm just concerned about cold weather. Thanks.

I can't comment on Balthazar in NYC, but when I was at Bouchon about a week ago, there was a baby there. The place is big and echo-y and though I adore children and fully support parents' rights to eat out, his presence was disruptive to my meal given the accoustics of the place and the hushed conversations of the other diners. On the other hand, Lotus of Siam has a lot of background noise and occasional joyous outbursts by children and adults alike pretty much just blend in to the overall din.

As far as "cold weather", it was hovering in the high 50's and mid 60's when we were there. I guess cold is a matter of perspective--we were swimming in the outdoor pool every day of our trip and took every opportunity we could to dine outside--but, it was sub-zero back home. Alas, I haven't been to Enoteca, so I can't provide more info on the specifics of the plaza/patio. But, some of the places (such as Daniel Boulud) have those outdoor heaters, too, that they'll turn on for you if it's cold. That might be something for you to look into if it would help expand your dining options!

Not really outdoor. It's a patio in the canal area with a ceiling which simulates an the outdoors with sky & clouds painted on it. It's the same scenario that they have in the Forum shops in Cesar's if you've been there. Seems like they have it everywhere in Vegas now. Then I guess if you into a restaurant, you're double indoors. : )

Just wanted to post a after trip report of the places I ended up taking my family and child to eat during our 4 days in vegas.

Day 1 - Lunch: arrived hungry around 1pm at MGM signature suites, so decided to get a quick bite to eat somewhere in MGM Grand. Settled on Wolfgang Puck's Bar n Grill. Tried a turkey sandwich which was enormous in size (good thing we shared it), a beet salad and a very good mushroom pizza. Nothing spectacular but at least it was solid food without breaking the bank. Got to sit in a quite little table just next to where the kitchen servers come out, so our kid didn't bother anyone. Unfortunately the restaurant is completely open to the casino, so expect to inhale a bit of smoke during your meal.

Day 1 - Dinner: went to Enoteca San Marco. I did a thorough review w/ pics on this thread.http://www.chowhound.com/topics/493963 Overall it was good atmosphere sitting in the patio with the kid, but food was lacklustre for the price.

Day 2 - Brunch: Paris hotel brunch buffet. Stuck to mostly the smoked salmon, fresh to order crepes (ask for the chocolate sauce, it wasn't in the front as with all the other sauces), omlettes, pastries etc. Decent coffee as well. One of the better breakfast buffets I've had.

Day 2 - Dinner: had to catch the 7:30 "O" show, so had a 5pm reservation for Bouchon. They gave us a nice table looking out at the fountain. Waiter was very friendly, almost too friendly if that's possible. Family really loved almost all the dishes. Fantastic bread with mustard. For appetizers, we had the Escargots done with a small puff pastry, very nice. Onion soup had plenty of cheese, pate was very rich and the duck confit was perfect. For mains, my pork ribs was fall off the bone succulent with just the right tangyness balance with the sauce. Comes with a side of polenta. Wife had the steak frites... fries were good, but steak was ok. Dad had the lamb, which was rather dull. Also tasted the Salmon which was ok, and the special was the pan fried huge scallops which were beatifully done. For dessert, we had the profiteroles (plenty of ice cream filling) which were very yummy and the lemon tart which was rather sour. Overall a fantastic meal and my kid survived it with flying colors (eating mostly bread and fries kept him quiet).

Day 3 - Lunch: went to the outlet mall and only ate a big breakfast in our hotel room kitchen. The Albertson's was a bit of a drive away and the clientele there was a little scary.

Day 3 - Dinner: Wynn buffet. Aside from the crab legs and fresh shrimp, nothing else really stood out for me. We were disappointed with the overall food quality... I guess you can only expect so much out of a buffet. Oh ya, don't bother drinking their coffee, tastes like nasty tar. BTW, no strollers allowed @ Wynn hotel. The only other hotel buffet I was considering was the Bellagio, but they don't allow kids under 5 period.

Day 4 - Lunch: showed up around 1pm at Burger Bar and had to wait 20 mins to get a table. Place was very loud. I tried the Sliders, a sample of 3 different kinds of meat. They actually screwed up my order and gave me 2 of the same burgers. Eventually after getting the right ones, they all tasted pretty much the same to me. Probably should've just gone to Fatburger or an In n Out.

Day 4 - Dinner: Lotus of Siam. Surprisingly on a friday night at 7:30pm the place wasn't completely packed. The area really isn't that seedy at all, aside from one night club across the parking lot, it's mostly filled with other asian restuarants like a korean BBQ, japanese, etc. For appetizers, we had the deep fried chicken wings (boring), the Nom Tod fried rice w/ sour sausage (quite interesting texture), soft shell crab salad (amazing), and fish cake (boring). Also tried a noodle soup w/ beef balls (very tasty soup). Mains we had the duck curry w/ cognac sauce.. one of the best tasting asian dishes I've had in a very long time. We were all fighting for more sauce to eat with the rice. Drunken noodle w/ deep fried seabass was very nice and delicate pieces of fish. The garlic crispy shrimp was good too, even just crunching away on the shells was so satisfying. The beef green curry was super spicy, even though we asked for low spice on everything. The pork curry was very tender. Overall a very good meal, reminiscent of the few great meals that I had while in Thailand.